Mile of Music co-founders Dave Willems (left) and singer-songwriter Cory Chisel got ambitious with this year’s schedule, doubling the number of bands and more than tripling the number of performances. Both pledge that it could grow even larger in coming years.
(Photo:
Wm. Glasheen/Post-Crescent Media
)

There is a confidence coming from Mile of Music co-founders Cory Chisel and Dave Willems.

Not a confidence that suggests cockiness or even a certainty that every t has been crossed and every i has been dotted as Thursday's opening of the second annual all-original music festival in downtown Appleton draws near. No, with 220-plus bands, 60 venues and 600-plus performances in the mix over four days, there is plenty of anxiety to go around.

But Chisel, the Nashville-via-Appleton singer-songwriter, and Willems, the Appleton marketing executive with a history of community goodwill, are confident that they've put together a sprawling festival — twice the number of bands and three times the number of performances from last year's debut — that music fans and musicians alike will embrace for all the right reasons. That it will draw thousands to the downtown, fill up cash registers and perhaps put Appleton on the map as a hub for creativity and musical expression, all the better.

"It's impressive that it's actually come together," Chisel said.

It's original music, with a heavy bent toward the rootsy, heartfelt, Americana sound that Chisel is so fond of. And it'll be coming in waves — in bars, coffee shops, outdoor venues and restaurants up and down College Avenue and along the nearby riverfront from midday Thursday through Sunday afternoon. And all but two of the performances will be free thanks to contributions from 100 business sponsors and nearly 1,500 individuals who have kicked in $150 each for VIP passes.

"What we're going for and what we've attracted with this festival is a group of peers, whether known or not known, who share a like-mindedness, the idea of community, the love of artisan," Chisel said of the Mile of Music roster. "Rather than just going for an act that's a big-name commercial powerhouse, we're really going after people who share a philosophy. So the festival has a certain type of feel."

That philosophy is centered in everything the festival aspires to be — an authentic, organic, community-centric celebration of original music that will draw visitors from long distances curious to see how a community this size in east-central Wisconsin managed to pull this off.

Chisel and Willems make no apologies that there isn't a major name headlining the festival. It's about emerging artists, about discovering new music and exploring a lineup full of bands and artists who bring major talent even though they survive just a bit outside the mainstream. If that's not your thing, don't come.

Even those artists on the card with some national clout tend to work off the beaten path.

"These are people like Butch Vig, who could play anywhere in the world and is choosing to come here to play two sets and do a recording session," Chisel said. "He's coming to support our community. We're looking at finding people through these kind of channels. We want people who this type of thing would mean something to them.

"We have to explain that a lot at the outset to people," Chisel said. "Immediately, people are like, 'You know, I don't know anybody.' We're less interested in bringing in Lady Gaga and more to people like Mike Mills of R.E.M., who has been a creative powerhouse Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and who also shares this kind of unique vision. They're bringing this group called The Baseball Project that's completely a love project for them. That's not their normal thing. You are not going to be able to go to every festival and see that this summer. They're being very, very specific about who they choose and we're really proud to be one of those festivals."

Vig and Mills, along with perhaps Sturgill Simpson and guest appearances by Richie Ramone, Travis McNabb and former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, are the closest thing the festival has to widespread name recognition. It's the other 220 acts or so that require a little more exploration.

"If this was just about selling tickets, then we wouldn't be doing it this way," Willems said.

The festival's roster is dotted with the likes of the Nikki Lane, Caroline Smith, Earl Burrows, Fly Golden Eagle and Matrimony, artists and bands that have garnered plenty of buzz in indie circles and have played major festivals. But they're not necessarily going to show up on pop radio anytime soon.

"There are very few festivals really like us in the world, and certainly not in the country, in terms of this extensive multi-venue, hundreds-of-bands kind of festival, and it's happening right here in Appleton," Willems said.

The idea is to be different than the dozens of other festivals that fill the summer calendar.

"Our festival is very much looking at not being the same old approach," Chisel said. "It's cool to see that happening."

Will people come?

Last year's debut, thrown together in a mere four months, was an adrenaline rush mixed with a lot of unknowns. Would Fox Valley music fans respond? Would local businesses show their support? Would the bands take a chance on such an unknown entity?

By all measurements, it was a resounding success. The musicians praised the festival and the city. Downtown businesses struggled to keep up with demand, a good problem to have. And skeptical but curious Fox Valley residents, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000, flocked to shows and heaped praise on what they found.

Chisel, Willems and their team — employees at Willems Marketing and a bevy of volunteers — responded by doubling the size of this year's festival, recruiting new venues and raising the stakes. Grants from the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism allowed them to jack up the marketing of the festival, not only in the Fox Valley but in Milwaukee, Madison and other potential hot spots in Wisconsin.

That work has been done. The word has been spread. Now it's wait and see if the people will come. With no ticket necessary, it is impossible to realistically predict a turnout, although Willems' team estimated 30,000 to 40,000 in its grant applications, a number that would roughly double last year's attendance.

"We are fielding more phone calls, considerably more phone calls," Willems said of gauging the interest. "And anecdotally … we've felt the interest that much stronger this year. But that's just anecdotal. Because most of it's free, it's impossible to gauge."

The expectation is that more people from around Wisconsin will come this year. The long-term goal is to see that expand to the Midwest and perhaps beyond.

"That's been part of this from the get-go, that we'd make it unique enough that Appleton becomes a destination spot, that people circle it on their calendar and say, 'Let's go, let's visit this community that's trying this really different thing,'" Chisel said.

VIP support

The only ticket available this year is the VIP pass, which sells for $150 and earns you access to a Wednesday night prelude show at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, access to a VIP-only Tom Petty-inspired jam session on Thursday night, priority access for certain shows at 14 of the venues and assorted other perks.

Is it worth $150 when the vast majority of others are seeing mostly the same shows for free? That's debatable if you're tabulating value. But, again, Chisel and Willems make no apologies when they say that's not the main point of the VIP pass. Shelling out $150 is about supporting the festival, supporting the philosophy and making a pledge to its survival and growth, not unlike a pledge you'd make to public radio or television if that's something you value.

"The VIP ticket has tons of exclusive events as far as access to the artists, meet-and-greets and such, which is great," Chisel said. "But it's also a way they can help sponsor the festival. That's how we're going to make this thing grow. We've been trying to get that message out. Even if you don't personally care about being a very important person, it's really that you are very important people to us and this festival."

Sponsorship monies have the festival on solid financial ground, Willems said. Festival expenses jumped from $375,000 a year ago to about $450,000 this year, he said.

It's not a money-maker, but the festival is covering its expenses, he said. Perhaps it will make money sometime down the road, allowing for contributions to two festival-supported funds — the Mile of Music Education Fund within the Appleton Education Foundation and the Creative Downtown Fund.

In the meantime, the push for VIP sales from individuals will continue so plans for growing and sustaining the festival can be realized.

"It's the type of donation that helps this thing expand," Chisel said.

Now what?

Both Chisel and Willems envision Mile of Music getting larger and becoming a fixture for years to come. It's been built on hard work, long hours, a crash course in logistics and an army of volunteers going above and beyond. But can that be sustained over the long haul?

"I think sustaining it will be part of our conversation after this year in the sense that every year it's going to be tweaked a little bit," Willems said. "Clearly it's only fair to the sponsors that maybe we move to where more of the community is helping to support the festival, more of the venues are helping to support the festival.

"We had to prove and to show the community that they could do this," he added. "And they have. I think they are understanding now that they can do a lot more. Our master plan is to work with the venues to make sure these remarkable, authentic, original music experiences can be found throughout the year. That's where we want to go long term.

"For the festival itself, as one component of that, I would think just from an infrastructure standpoint in our community — hotels, lodging, number of venues — if you want to keep it to a walking festival, which I think is a pretty important component to this, then we'd probably be looking at something like two weekends successively, with some days in between for music education. … That feels really right to me."

Chisel, Willems and company will measure feedback from this week's festival before moving forward. They'll consider dollars generated, turnout and community feedback.

"When we say community, we're talking about the local people but we're also talking about the Wisconsin community," Willems said. "This never was a local festival. We want this to be an international music festival that happens to be here. And we want it to be a Wisconsin music festival.

"All of our sponsors are based in Wisconsin. They all have roots in Wisconsin. They all started here, many of them in the Fox Valley. That's really important to us. It's up to the community to tell us where they want us to go with this."

If the feedback suggests the organizers overshot this year and scaling it back is the way to go, then so be it, Chisel said. But he thinks that's unlikely because this thing is just getting started.

"It would disappoint me if the community is not ready for more next year," he said. "Because I have more. I have a lot further we can go with this if they want it."

If you go

What: Mile of Music, featuring more than 220 bands

When: Thursday through Aug. 10. A festival prelude concert, dubbed "Women Shine," will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center for VIP ticket holders and volunteers.

Where: Downtown Appleton. Sixty venues in and around College Avenue and along the riverfront will be in play.

The schedule: For band bios and each band's performance schedule, see postcrescent.com. For schedule updates throughout the festival, see mileofmusic.com or the new Mile of Music app. A printed schedule and map will be available at venues throughout the downtown.

Headquarters: Mile of Music volunteers will staff a festival headquarters throughout the festival in the Kimberly Clark Theater of the Fox Cities PAC.